


The Price He Paid

by AnxiousBean453



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Assassin Shiota Nagisa, Assassination, Blood and Gore, Friends to Lovers, Kidnapping, M/M, Mystery, Violence, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:02:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousBean453/pseuds/AnxiousBean453
Summary: After his fight with Takaoka, Nagisa decides that he is going to become a professional assassin. He begins to train in secret and is hired to assassinate someone, however this mission goes wrong and Nagisa is kidnapped. When Class 3-E find out what has happened, it is up to them to find and save Nagisa before it's too late.
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Shiota Nagisa, Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa, Class 3-E & Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 14
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Assassination Classroom

Stun gun still firmly grasped in his hand, Nagisa watched as Takaoka’s body collapsed onto the jagged concrete. A small puddle of saliva began to leak from the unconscious man’s mouth, pooling around Nagisa’s foot. He’d done it. He’d defeated Takaoka. There was a brief moment of silence before the sound of cheering erupted from the other side of the roof. In the corner of his eye, Nagisa could see his friends bouncing up and down with joy but he didn’t go to join them. His eyes stayed glued to the body in front of him. Thoughts flickered through his mind, moving too fast for Nagisa to fully focus on any of them. He’d done it. What was going to happen next?  


A hand firmly grasping his shoulder startled Nagisa out of his trance. Spinning around, he was greeted by Karma’s familiar face, his eyes displaying a mixture of amusement and worry.  


“Nice job, I didn’t think you could be so strong.” Karma teased, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. “I mean, if I was the one who had to fight Takaoka, I would have defeated him in less than half of the time it took you to.” When Nagisa didn’t respond, Karma’s smirk morphed into a puzzled frown and his voice became softer.  


“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, concerned. Nagisa’s eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn’t noticed that Karma had been talking to him.  


“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Nagisa said, but the unmistakable shake in his voice suggested otherwise. Karma opened his mouth to protest and point out that he clearly wasn’t okay, when a helicopter flying above them interrupted him.

All of the students climbed into the helicopter as Mr Karasuma finished talking to the assassins they had fought earlier. After being informed that the virus wasn’t deadly and that everyone who had been infected would make a full recovery, everyone was laughing and joking together, looking back at the events that had just unfolded and smiling. Some people praised Nagisa for his bravery during his fight with Takaoka, others teased him about when he had to dress up like a girl to sneak through the club. Throughout all of this, Nagisa stayed silent, his eyes cast downwards. The feeling of Karma’s piercing stare burned on the side of his head but he chose to ignore it. No – one else seemed to notice Nagisa’s strange behaviour – they were all too excited as they talked about the things they wanted to do on the rest of their vacation. A foot abruptly appeared in front of Nagisa and kicked his leg, causing him to slowly raise his head. When he looked up, his eyes immediately gazed into Terasaka’s.  


“Uh, are you alright? You’re acting kinda strange.” He said, his question causing some of their classmates to look over in curiosity.  


“I’m fine.” Nagisa replied, repeating what he had said to Karma earlier. Not wanting Terasaka to ask any more questions, Nagisa lowered his head again. He didn’t miss the look that Karma and Terasaka shared as he did so.

Once they arrived back at their hotel, people began reciting the events of that night to the students who had been ill with the virus. Nagisa lingered behind everyone else, his thoughts weighing him down so much that the idea of socialising seemed impossible. The sound of his friends’ voices chatting near him and his own voice snarling at him inside his head was becoming unbearable. Finally, Nagisa mustered up enough energy to move. He slowly wandered away from the group, across the desolate beach and towards the sea. The voices of his classmates began to fade as his feet led him further and further away but the voice in his head remained. 

Nagisa eventually stopped walking and faced the sea, the waves gently crashing against the sand providing him some comfort. As he watched in silence, hypnotised by the repetitive motion of the waves, water rushed up in front of him and encircled his foot, soaking his shoe. _Just like Takaoka’s saliva did after you knocked him unconscious,_ his thoughts reminded him. Now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, Nagisa’s entire body ached. His ribs felt like knives stabbing his lungs every time he breathed. The muscles in his arms and legs felt weak and useless. Underneath is nose was a patch of dried blood and bruises littered almost every inch of his body. Despite Nagisa’s body desperately begging for him to lie down and rest, he decided to stay standing motionless in front of the ocean, alone with his thoughts.

Nagisa was unaware of how much time had passed when he felt a swift gust of wind behind him and a tentacle gently resting on the top of his head. His body turned slightly to see Korosensei looking down at him, his wide grin still plastered onto his face.  


“Nagisa, it’s getting quite late. Your classmates have started to go to bed, I advise you do the same.” He said in a caring tone. Only then did Nagisa realise how long he had stood motionless by the ocean for. The sun had fully set and the crescent moon was on display, surrounded by thousands of shimmering stars. The frosty night breeze gnawed at his bones as he still wasn’t wearing anything over his tank top. As if he could read Nagisa’s mind, Korosensei slipped a soft blanket onto Nagisa’s shoulders.  


“Go and rest,” he ordered, “we’ll talk in the morning.” Nagisa attempted a small smile but it quickly turned into a grimace. Korosensei took one final look at Nagisa before he disappeared into the night. Shivering, Nagisa wrapped the blanket tightly around his body and began the slow journey across the beach and back to the hotel.

Almost as empty as the beach, Nagisa entered the quiet hotel. No-one was around as they had all decided to go to bed. Nagisa couldn’t blame them – it had been a tough day for everyone. Heading down the hallway, and ignoring his body crying out in agony at the movement, he spotted Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch having what appeared to be a serious conversation. Nagisa edged closer towards them as his curiosity forced his feet forwards. Their muffled words became louder and louder until Nagisa was close enough to hear what was actually being said. His stomach dropped.

They were talking about him.

Nagisa’s sharp intake of breath caused both adults to whirl around in surprise. Karasuma’s stoic face displayed no emotion but his eyes reflected what appeared to be concern. On the other hand, Professor Bitch’s was hanging open slightly in shock and her guilt from being caught talking about Nagisa behind his back was etched into her features. The atmosphere became tense as all three of them stared at each other, not saying a word. 

A whirlwind of emotions enveloped Nagisa as he dashed past his teachers and made a beeline for his room. Faintly, he could hear the sound of footsteps following him. He pushed his body to move faster despite his body’s protests as he almost sprinted down the hallway. The blanket on his shoulders slipped and laid forgotten on the floor as Nagisa swung his room’s door open, dived inside and slammed it shut behind him. He didn’t care if he woke anyone up, he just wanted to escape from everything that was happening to him. Crawling into his bed and pulling the covers over his head, Nagisa allowed silent tears to slip down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes closed and willed himself to fall asleep.

There was one thing Nagisa hadn’t noticed in his haste to get to his bed. Karma’s bed was empty.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Assassination Classroom

Karma was worried. Beneath his arrogant facade was a layer of concern and worry caused by one thing in particular: Nagisa. He’d never admit this to anyone but whenever Karma saw Nagisa upset or hurt it made him feel useless, he was supposed to be strong enough to protect Nagisa. Karma had failed once again. For a minute, Karma had believed that he’d imagined how strange Nagisa had been acting after his fight with Takaoka, but when they were in the helicopter flying back to their hotel there was one thing that confirmed that Nagisa’s odd behaviour wasn’t going unnoticed. Terasaka’s face had mirrored exactly how Karma felt.

Once they had arrived back at the hotel, Karma immediately headed towards Terasaka, desperate to talk to him about Nagisa. Karma walked up behind him, grabbed his arm and harshly pulled him away from everyone else.  


“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Terasaka exclaimed with a mix of anger and surprise in his voice.  


“Tell me what happened between Nagisa and Takaoka the day I skipped class.” Karma demanded, his hand still strongly gripping Terasaka and forcing him to stay where he was.  


“Why should I tell you? You would know if you had been there.” Karma’s face twisted into a scowl at his response and he slowly began to dig his nails into Terasaka’s arm. He flinched in pain and tried to pull away but this made Karma press down even stronger.  


“Ow! Stop!”  


“Tell me what happened and I’ll let go.”  


“Okay, fine! You win, I’ll tell you. Now let go of me!” Karma’s hand fell back to his side and he listened closely as Terasaka recounted everything he could remember about Nagisa’s first encounter with Takaoka.

After Terasaka had finished explaining everything, Karma felt concern course through his veins. I need to talk to Nagisa, he thought as he wordlessly walked past Terasaka and began to search for the bluenette. As Karma’s eyes scanned over everyone’s faces, his heartbeat began to violently pound in his ears as he realised that Nagisa was nowhere to be found. Karma began to push his way through crowds of people as he marched toward where Sugino and Kayano were talking, preparing to ask them if they knew where Nagisa had disappeared to, when something in the corner of his eye grabbed his attention. 

In the distance, he could vaguely see a shadowy figure standing in front of the ocean, their blue pigtails swaying in the breeze. _Nagisa_. Without hesitation, he began to storm across the empty beach towards Nagisa, when Korosensei appeared in front of him, holding a blanket with one of his tentacles and blocking Karma’s path.  


“Karma, I–” He began but his sentence was cut short as Karma quickly pulled an anti-sensei knife out of his pocket and slashed at Korosensei. He effortlessly dodged the sudden attack and start to speak again, unfazed by Karma’s abrupt attempt at an assassination.  


“I know you care about Nagisa, but you shouldn’t go and talk to him right now.” Karma ignored him and continued to walk forward with his hands clenched into fists at his sides.  


“Karma, stop.” Korosensei said, “This isn’t going to help him, you’re just going to end up hurting Nagisa if you try to speak to him right now.” Those words made Karma stop dead in his tracks as he tried to process what Korosensei had just told him. The incompetence he felt inside suddenly transformed into rage as he whirled round to face his teacher.  


“Yeah? Well what do you know anyway! Nagisa is in pain, I need to be there for him!” Karma exploded with anger, shouting at Korosensei. Even though his facial expression remained the same, Korosensei’s voice became softer.  


“Your classmates are going to bed, go and join them. I’ll speak to Nagisa.” Reluctantly, Karma trudged back to the hotel. The last few students who hadn’t gone inside yet gave Karma sympathetic looks as he returned.

Karma sat on his bed and tuned out the voices of his friends as he stared at the other side of the room, directly at Nagisa’s empty bed. He reflected on his conversation with Korosensei that had taken place not long ago. Karma wanted to help Nagisa, he needed to help him. _But how?_ As everyone began to settle down and fall asleep, Karma became restless. He couldn’t fall asleep knowing how much pain Nagisa was in. Grabbing his phone, he quietly slipped out of the room and crept down the hallway towards the only place Karma could think of where he would be left alone – the hotel bathrooms. 

Karma entered the men’s room and pressed his back against the wall furthest away from the door before he allowed himself to slide down to the cold floor below. Pulling his knees up in front of his face, he wrapped one arm around his legs while the other held his phone in front of his face. Karma opened his gallery and scrolled through the pictures until he found the one he was searching for – the picture Karma had taken earlier that day of Nagisa dressed up like a girl. A wave of guilt crashed into him, he knew how much Nagisa hated looking like a girl and yet he still decided to tease him about it anyway. Karma continued to look at the picture as he tried to make sense of all the thoughts and emotions that were invading his mind.

Faintly, he could hear two voices in the distance begin to have a conversation. _It’s probably Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch_ , he though to himself. Karma attempted to listen to them but their voices were too muffled for him to understand. Then the voices stopped. A deafening silence filled the hotel and Karma immediately became alert, his body tensing at the sudden silence. The silence was quickly replaced by footsteps racing past the men’s room with two other pairs of footsteps following closely behind. The sound of a door slamming shut echoed down the hallway, then there was silence once again.

Karma rose from his position on the floor after he was certain that Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch had left. He headed towards his hotel room, making sure that no one would see him and ask him what he had been doing. As he placed his hand on the door handle, Karma noticed that a blanket laid crumpled on the floor next to his feet. It was the same blanket that Korosensei had been holding earlier. _He must have given it to Nagisa_. Delicately picking it up off the floor like it was a precious jewel, Karma carefully opened the door to his room and silently entered.

His eyes were instantly drawn to Nagisa, who appeared to be asleep with his duvet pulled over his head. Karma neatly folded the blanket and placed it on the table next to Nagisa’s bed before he put his phone away and climbed into his own bed. Taking one final look at Nagisa, Karma rolled over and eventually fell asleep. The room became quiet. Almost immediately after Karma went to sleep, Nagisa slowly removed the covers from over his head, stood up from his bed and began to walk towards the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Assassination Classroom

Laying silently underneath his bed covers, Nagisa’s tears began to slow as his mind began to filter through all of his thoughts. Slithers of memories sprang into his conscience: his mother forcing him to act like a girl, his friends making him wear a dress, Karma teasing him, his fight with Takaoka. Every attempt Nagisa made to force these painful experiences out of his head was futile and with each second that passed, they grew louder and louder, drowning out everything else.

Nagisa bit down on his lower lip so hard that he drew blood. Hands pulled at his hair as the memories became almost unbearable to relive. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe he couldn’t breathe hecouldn’tbreathehecouldn’tbreathehe– 

The slow creak of the hotel room door caught his attention.

Nagisa’s mind focused on the noise so quickly that it caused a wave of dizziness to crash through him. Footsteps edged towards his bed. Nagisa immediately tried to control his breathing and attempted to pretend to be asleep. The footsteps stopped. His heart pumped wildly against his rib cage. _Can they tell that I’m still awake? What if it’s Mr Karasuma? What if he wants to talk to me about earlier?_ A tense atmosphere filled the air before the footsteps retreated to the other side of the room. Nagisa listened as the person climbed into their bed. The only sound that still remained was Nagisa’s shaky breaths.

Uncurling his body from its huddled position, Nagisa pushed himself up and looked around the room. To his surprise he noticed that a blanket had been neatly folded and placed next to him. His gaze lingered on the fabric as he reached a tentative hand towards it. Brushing his fingers over the soft fabric calmed Nagisa as he carefully stood up out of his bed. _Everyone’s asleep. Time to go._

Nagisa forced his legs to walk towards the door. He gently rested his hand on the handle and began to turn it. He hesitated. Apprehension flowed through his veins as his hold body became rigid. Taking a deep breathe, Nagisa slowly pushed the door open and stepped out into the dimly lit hallway.

With only one destination in mind, Nagisa quickly crept through the building. He was almost certain that all of the other students were asleep so the chances of him being caught by one of them were quite low. If he was caught, he could easily lie to them about what he was doing. The teachers would be harder to fool. Especially since his was heading directly for their rooms.

Nagisa turned the corner and instantly stopped – he was standing right in front of the teachers’ hotel rooms. Korosensei’s room and Mr Karasuma’s room were on the left, Professor Bitch’s was on the right. He walked towards the right. Nagisa let out a small sigh of relief as he noticed that no light was shining through the bottom of Professor Bitch’s door. Perfect.

Reaching up to his hair, Nagisa pulled out a bobby pin and silently knelt in front of the door’s lock. He glanced behind himself to make sure that he wasn’t being watched as he pushed the bobby pin into the lock and started to unlock it. Nagisa removed the bobby pin and twisted the handle. The door didn’t open. _I need to do this_ , Nagisa reminded himself as he attempted to pick the lock again, _I need to prove that I can do this_. He turned the handle. The door swung open.

In the darkness of the room, he could just make out the figure of a person asleep under the covers of the bed, facing towards the door. A few pairs of shoes lay next to the door and further in the room Nagisa could see one of Professor Bitch’s handbags resting against her wardrobe. Still on his knees, Nagisa crawled into the room and towards her handbag. He carefully reached his hand inside and his fingers wrapped around her phone. Nagisa pulled it out of the bag and held it delicately in his hand. 

His eyes stayed glued to Professor Bitch as he made sure that she was still oblivious to the fact that someone was sneaking around in her room. She didn’t move. Nagisa was about to turn her phone on when he realised that the light from the screen would be bright enough to wake her. He considered his options: he could leave the room but there was a chance he would be caught by someone when he tried to sneak back in, he could try and shield the light from the phone so it didn’t wake Professor Bitch but that plan was extremely risky. There was only one other option, Nagisa had to find a hiding place.

Using his foot to close the door, Nagisa crept further into the room, the phone still grasped in his hand, and scanned his surroundings. There were a few tables scattered about the room. _Too open._ There was a bathroom connected to Professor Bitch’s room. _The light might turn on automatically._ There was the wardrobe that the handbag had been leaning against. _That… could work._ Nagisa reached up and pulled one of the wardrobe doors open. Clothes were hung neatly from hangers as Nagisa pushed them aside and climbed into the corner. He took one last look at his teacher before he lent forward and closed the door.

The light from the phone screen was blinding. Tears sprang to Nagisa’s eyes as he squinted and tried to focus on the screen. In his haste to actually retrieve the phone, he had completely forgotten one crucial thing – he needed a password to unlock it. Wracking his brain in an attempt to figure out what Professor Bitch’s password would be, Nagisa typed in her birthday. Incorrect. He tensed, if he entered too many wrong guesses, the phone would lock him out and his plan would fail. 

His started to quicken as he began to spiral into a panic. The walls of the wardrobe seemed to be closing in on him as Nagisa wrapped his arm around his legs in an attempt to comfort himself. _Try Mr Karasuma’s birthday_ , the voice in his head randomly suggested. Nagisa paused for a moment before entering the numbers. The phone unlocked.

Nagisa was greeted by the sight of Professor Bitch’s home screen and he instantly opened her contacts. He scrolled through the list of names before he found the person he was looking for. Lovro. Opening the messenger, Nagisa briefly read some of Lovro and Professor Bitch’s previous conversations to understand how they interacted with each other before he began to type his own message.

 **Irina:** Lovro, we need to talk,

After an agonizing few minutes of waiting, Lovro replied.

 **Lovro:** Ok. Talk.

 **Irina:** There are some new techniques that I want to use to try and kill the octopus and I want your advice.

 **Lovro:** Explain them to me.

Nagisa swallowed nervously as he tried to figure out what to say next.

 **Irina:** I don’t think I can explain them through texts, can we meet face to face?

When he received no reply, Nagisa’s body was flooded with fear. Has he figured out that he’s not actually talking to Professor Bitch?

 **Lovro:** Very well. Lucky for you, my trip out of the country has been cancelled. 

**Irina:** It needs to be a secret, I don’t want the octopus finding out what I’m up to.

 **Lovro:** Next week on Wednesday. In the woods next to the E-Class building right after all of the students have left.

A shiver of excitement ran up Nagisa’s spine as he hurriedly typed a reply.

 **Irina:** Great, see you soon.

Nagisa let a few more minutes pass and, once he was certain that he would not receive another text from Lovro, he deleted the conversation and turned Professor Bitch’s phone off. A smile flickered onto his face for a moment. Wednesday. Holding the phone tightly, Nagisa pressed his hand against the wardrobe door, about to push it open. He froze.

Someone was knocking on Professor Bitch’s door.

All of the air left Nagisa’s lungs as he listened in horror to the sound of Professor Bitch waking up and moving across the room. He sat paralyzed as she walked past his hiding spot. Nagisa heard the door open and prayed that since Professor Bitch had just woken up she wouldn’t realise that the door had been unlocked.

“Nagisa’s missing.” A deep voice said. _Mr Karasuma._

Nagisa gripped the phone so strongly that his knuckles turned white. Instantly, the sound of shuffling could be heard next to the wardrobe. She must be putting her shoes on, Nagisa thought. Then reality hit him. They were going to search. For him.

“Let’s go.” Professor Bitch said as both teachers left the room and rushed down the hallway. Nagisa didn’t move. He couldn’t just return to his room and pretend that he never left like he had planned, he needed to think of something else. Nagisa needed to find a way out of this situation and he needed to do it fast.

Nagisa ignored the way his hands shook as he pushed the wardrobe door open and clambered out. Quickly placing the phone back into the handbag, Nagisa pressed his ear up against the hotel room door and listened for footsteps. He heard nothing. It was time to leave.

Almost sprinting out of the room, Nagisa darted down the hallway with only one thought in his mind: get as far away from the room as possible. His feet seemed to lead him in a random direction as his mind desperately generated lies and excuses that he could tell his teachers. Reaching the end of another corridor, Nagisa turned the corner and was greeted by the site of the hotel’s entrance. An idea dawned on him. _I can say that I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to go outside for some fresh air_. His feet moved even faster as he headed directly towards the door that lead to the outside.

“Nagisa?”

Nagisa spun around. Karma was stood at the end of the hallway, watching him with wide eyes. Nagisa was too stunned to reply.

“Nagisa, what are you doing?” Karma asked as he started to make his way towards his friend.

“I…” Nagisa said as he suddenly came back to his senses. “I was going outside for some fresh air. I couldn’t sleep.”

Karma’s face scrunched up with confusion. “But–”

A gust of wind flew down the hallway just as two figures appeared at the end of the hallway.

“Ah, Nagisa, there you are!” Korosensei exclaimed as he appeared in front of him.

Nagisa’s eyes traveled past Korosensei and landed on the concerned faces of his teachers as they stared at him. He noticed Karma’s gaze seemed to be shifting between him and Korosensei. No-one spoke and the hallway was drenched in an awkward silence before Karasuma cleared his throat.

“It’s pretty early and the others will be waking up soon. Due to the events that occurred yesterday, this vacation has been cut short and we are heading back today. I think its for the best if you two go and get some rest before the boat arrives.”

Before Nagisa could respond, Korosensei’s laugh echoed down the corridor.

“You three should certainly head back to your rooms,” he said as he turned around to face the others, “but Nagisa will stay with me.” Nagisa’s eyes widened in surprise as Korosensei turned back around. “We have quite a few things to talk about, Nagisa. Let’s step outside, shall we?” He said before he disappeared through the door. 

Karma looked like he was about to protest but he changed his mind as he reluctantly followed Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch away from Nagisa and in the direction of the rooms. Nagisa’s eyes were fixed on Karma as he left, a feeling of guilt filling his chest.

Nagisa took a deep breath and stepped outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Assassination Classroom

Karma didn’t know how long he had been laying in his bed as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Tiredness dragged his body down but his mind was racing as he couldn’t stop himself replaying the fight between Nagisa and Takaoka in his mind. Anger burned in his chest as he relived Takaoka mercilessly beating up a helpless Nagisa. Karma grimaced as he thought about the amount of pain Nagisa must have felt during that fight. _Wait a minute…_

Instantly springing upright, Karma squinted as he impatiently waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. _Nagisa’s injuries haven’t been looked at, he’s still in pain._ His eyes landed on Nagisa’s bed and his blood ran cold. Nagisa was gone.

Panic seized him strongly enough to destroy any traces of tiredness Karma still had as he jumped out of his bed and dashed into the corridor. Karma was about to walk down the corridor and begin his search for Nagisa when he stopped. If Nagisa decided to leave in the middle of the night, he probably wasn’t in a stable state of mind. Karma debated whether he would actually be able to help Nagisa or if he would make everything worse. He turned around and headed towards the teachers’ hotel rooms.

As soon as he reached their rooms, Karma raised his fist and knocked on Mr Karasuma’s door. It immediately opened to reveal Mr Karasuma still in his suit standing on the other side. His face remained expressionless as he stared at Karma, waiting for him to speak. The words Karma wanted to say got stuck in his throat for a second as the reality of the situation truly hit him.

“Nagisa is missing.”

Mr Karasuma’s back straightened instantly, his stance becoming alert and ready for action.

“Do you know where he’s gone?” He asked.

Karma was momentarily stunned by the blunt question but quickly shook his head. Without another word, Mr Karasuma left his room and knocked on Professor Bitch’s door. Anger and worry morphed into determination as Karma spun around and marched back down the hallway, leaving his teachers behind. Korosensei is wrong, I can help him. Karma’s pace quickened. Watch me.

Hearing the unintelligible buzz of a conversation behind him, and purposefully choosing to ignore it, Karma strode down the hallway as he kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead. Karma didn’t know where Nagisa was or why he left, all he knew was that he had to find him. Karma’s attention was so focused on his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice a slender figure with bright blue hair sprinting in front of him.

“Nagisa?” He asked in surprise.

Nagisa flinched and stopped running. When he turned around, Karma could see his eyes were wide open and his lips were parted slightly in shock.

“I…” Nagisa’s voice cracked before he cleared his throat and tried again. “I was heading outside for some fresh air, I couldn’t sleep.”

Worry wormed its way back into Karma’s chest as he processed Nagisa’s reply. Something was definitely wrong.

“But–” Karma began but was interrupted by a gust of cool wind tunneling down the corridor. Coincidentally, Karma also heard Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch run up behind him. Karma didn’t bother to turn around. Instead, he began to analyse Nagisa, looking for the real reason why Nagisa had been trying to leave. _He seems to be fully awake. Sleeping obviously isn’t the main issue._ Karma clenched his fists.

_Why are you lying to me?_

“–some things to talk about Nagisa. Let’s step outside, shall we?” Korosensei’s charismatic voice said before he disappeared. Karma’s protest died on his tongue as he saw the expression on Nagisa’s face. Their eyes met. Karma tore his gaze away from his friend’s as he began to trail behind his teachers as they left.

The journey back to their rooms was silent until Karma heard Professor Bitch scoff.

“Damn that little brat! Making me wake up in the middle of the night for nothing, who does he think he is?”

Karma ground his teeth as he listened to Professor Bitch continue to complain. The burning anger in his chest spread to the rest of his body.

“Irina, calm down.” Mr Karasuma demanded.

“No! I have been woken up and forced to leave my room because of a dramatic little kid who–”

“Shut the hell up!” Karma’s voice sliced through her words. “Just shut up! You have no idea what he’s going through, I’m pretty sure the last thing he needs is an entitled, incompetent bitch complaining about losing a bit of sleep when a few hours ago he almost died!” Karma roared, his body on fire with rage.

Before either of the adults could say anything, Karma forcefully pushed past them and stomped down the hall towards his room. A frustrated growl clawed its way up his throat as he swung the door open and slammed it shut behind him. Unable to control his temper, Karma kicked the table next to Nagisa’s bed as hard as he possibly could. _Why do I even care so much about this? I don’t even–_

“Whoa.”

A voice fractured Karma’s thoughts. His head snapped up and he was met with the sight of Sugino watching him with confusion.

“Are you okay? Where have you been?” Sugino asked. Karma tried to form a reply as he considered how much of the truth he should tell Sugino. Before he had the chance to answer, Sugino spoke again.

“Where’s Nagisa?” He asked, looking over Karma’s shoulder at Nagisa’s empty bed.

“It’s none of your business,” Karma replied, finding himself desperate to change the subject, “why are you awake?”

“I’m packing my things for the trip home.” Sugino said as he watched Karma with suspicion. Now Karma could clearly see the large suitcase open behind Sugino and the pile of folded clothes in his hand. “Y’know, what we should be doing.” As Sugino said that, several of their classmates began to wake up.

Karma walked over to his own bed, grabbed some of his clothes and began to fold them. He was focusing on packing his own suitcase until Sugino’s voice filtered through his ears once again.

“Whatever you’ve done with Nagisa, it better have been something nice.” He said over his shoulder. “He’s been through enough, I don’t think him having to put up with your teasing and pranks is the best thing for him right now.”

Karma froze. He turned his head to look at Sugino but he was facing away from Karma. Karma thought against replying, seeing as most of his classmates were awake and probably wouldn’t appreciate having to wake up to an argument. Karma continued to fold his clothes, ignoring the way his stomach twisted at Sugino’s words.

It wasn’t long before the entire class was huddled together at the hotel’s entrance, watching with mixed reactions as the boat that was going to take them home slowly drifted to the shore. Karma’s eyes wandered around the scene. _Where…? No, I need to stop focusing on him._ Forcing himself to act more relaxed, Karma sauntered behind the others as they all boarded the ship.

As he entered the boat, he could saw Mr Karasuma and Professor Bitch watching him out of the corner of his eye. Karma decided to walk straight past them as he strode over to Kayano, Okuda, Sugino and Kanzaki, who were all standing together on the deck.

“I can’t believe we’re going home already, we only just got here!” Kayano exclaimed.

“Well, it makes sense though, after everything that happened…” Sugino replied. Karma stood behind them, silently listening to their conversation.

“I kinda feel bad for Nagisa.” Kanzaki said, “I mean, that fight would have been scary for anyone, even you Karma.” The others turned their attention to Karma as he shrugged nonchalantly.

“Eh, I could’ve taken him.” He said. Karma refused to mention that he wasn’t scared of being Nagisa in that situation, he was scared for Nagisa instead.

“I’m just glad everyone made a full recovery. I was worried for a moment but everyone seems to be fine now.” Okuda’s timid voice joined the discussion.  
Everyone except Nagisa is fine, Karma’s thoughts reminded him as the conversation continued.

The ship jolted as it began to move away from the sand and into the large expanse of empty ocean. Unmistakable yellow tentacles flashed in front of Karma’s face as Korosensei appeared at the deck’s railing, looking out at the sea. Everything seemed normal. _Except…_

“Uh, sir? Where’s Nagisa?” Kayano asked, her head tilted in confusion.

The group stared at Korosensei expectantly. Korosensei’s tentacle let go of the railing as he began to talk.

“You and your classmates went on a mission yesterday that was quite unexpected and very dangerous.” A tentacle was gently wrapped around each student’s shoulders. “You all played an important role in one way or another. However, Nagisa’s role was tougher than anything any of you have ever gone through before. Understandably, he needs some extra time to recover.”

“Is he okay?” Sugino asked the question that had been stuck in Karma’s mind for hours.

“He will be.” Korosensei replied, removing his tentacles from their shoulders.

The conversation grew quiet as they thought about what their teacher had just told them. The boat rocked back and forth as waves continuously crashed into the metal. Karma watched the rhythm of the waves as Korosensei moved behind him.

“Now,” Korosensei began, “if you’ll excuse me, I have to lie down.” He dramatically collapsed onto one of the deck chairs, using a fan with one of his tentacles. “Boat rides make me queasy.”

Many of the students leapt forward and seized the opportunity to try and assassinate Korosensei. Karma paid no attention to them as he continued to watch the ocean. He seemed to have been the only person who noticed how Korosensei didn’t actually answer their questions, as if he was avoiding telling them the truth. Barely sparing a glance at the chaos that was unfolding behind him, Karma left the deck and headed inside.

Mr Karasuma would definitely know where Nagisa was. The only problem was that Karma wasn’t sure if he would be able to convince him to share that information. After his outburst earlier, Karma doubted that Mr Karasuma would willingly give him any details about the situation involving Nagisa. So that meant Karma would have to eavesdrop.

The two teachers Karma wanted to find were sitting at a table in the cafeteria of the ship. A few students were spread around the area: some were eating at different tables, a few were gazing out of the windows, and the rest were loitering aimlessly and chatting with each other. Karma attempted to discern Mr Karasuma’s voice from the flood of other voices that filled the room. He edged closer, acting as casual as possible. Without warning, Mr Karasuma rose from his seat and left the cafeteria.

Karma sighed in disappointment as he watched his plan fall apart. Now that Mr Karasuma was gone, Professor Bitch had a clear view of where Karma was standing. She briefly glanced at him before standing and walking over to him. Karma crossed his arms defensively as she approached.

“Look, I’m not going to make a big thing out of this but Mr Karasuma told me to apologize to you.” Professor Bitch said. “So, sorry, I guess.”

Karma rose his eyebrow. “Wow, what a great apology.”

“Like you can talk!” Professor Bitch yelled. “I’m your teacher, believe it or not, and the way you spoke to me yesterday was unacceptable. You still haven’t even apologized!”  
Karma rolled his eyes as he walked away, Professor Bitch’s whining slowly fading into the background.

_Time for Plan B._

Logically, Karma knew that Nagisa had to be somewhere that none of the students would usually go. Also, it had to be somewhere isolated, somewhere that felt safe and secure. Karma wracked his brain as he ventured deeper into the ship. As he walked, Karma studied his surroundings as he looked for any clues that could help him locate Nagisa. Eventually, he stumbled across a row of sturdy doors at the back of the ship. Karma analysed the doors carefully, looking for any hints that showed they had been used recently.

Reaching forward, he twisted one of the door’s handles. It swung open to reveal a small, empty room. The only things there were a few boxes scattered across the floor that seemed to have been carelessly thrown in there without much thought.

Wasting no time, Karma approached the second door when the handle suddenly turned. Karma dove into the room he had just looked inside of just in time to hear the unmistakable sound of Mr Karasuma’s voice talking to someone on the phone as he left the room next to Karma’s hiding spot. After waiting for the coast to be clear, Karma emerged from his hiding spot and stood in front of the room that Mr Karasuma had just left.

He took a deep breath and opened the door.

This room was almost identical to the previous room – it had the same metal walls and old oak flooring, but there was one obvious difference. In the corner of the room was Nagisa, curled up underneath the pale pink blanket that Karma had picked up and folded earlier, on one of the beach chairs from the deck. Korosensei must have taken it earlier without anyone noticing. Even though his face was covered, Karma could tell that Nagisa was asleep by the sound of his slow and even breaths.

Closing the door behind him, Karma walked over to Nagisa’s sleeping form. The two bright blue pigtails that stuck out from underneath the blanket were clearly ruffled. Strands of hair poked out in every direction and the hair ties seemed looser than usual, failing miserably to hold Nagisa’s hair together. Karma lent forward and grabbed the blanket. He was about to pull it off of Nagisa when he paused. Maybe I should just leave him alone. Karma thought for a moment before carefully pulling the blanket only off of Nagisa’s face.

His blood boiled.

Nagisa’s pale skin was covered with an array of different bruises. Tones of blue, black and purple were splattered across his face like layers of paint. Blood from various different scrapes and cuts had been wiped away but dark red patches stained his skin. Despite all of this, Nagisa’s face remained peaceful as he slept.

Rage coursed through Karma’s body. _If I ever see Takaoka again, I’m going to kill him._ Karma debated whether or not he should remove the rest of the blanket before deciding against it. Instead, he tucked the blanket around Nagisa’s shoulders and stepped backwards. Karma lent against the wall, deep in thought. Since he saw Mr Karasuma leave not long ago, Karma presumed that no-one else was going to come and check on Nagisa for a while. That meant it was just him and Nagisa.

Karma had planned on Nagisa being awake when he found him so now he was slightly unsure about what his next move should be. Leaving wasn’t a smart idea as if Nagisa woke up and left, he would lose the opportunity to talk to him. Staying wasn’t a great option either as there was nothing to do and Karma didn’t know how long it would be until Nagisa woke up. Indecision plagued his thoughts as he watched Nagisa sleep. _What should I do now?_

As if answering Karma’s unspoken question, the blanket shifted as Nagisa stirred. Karma pushed himself off of the wall and watched in anticipation as Nagisa’s eyes fluttered open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, life has been quite difficult lately. I'll try to post new chapters more often and consistently in the future. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you're enjoying the story so far!


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